


Sometimes Dead is Better

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-04 06:04:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20466227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Loosely based off Stephen King's Pet SemeteryWhen Chat Noir is killed by an akuma, Ladybug is desperate to have her partner back. Master Fu tells her the tale of an ancient cemetery on the edge of Paris that brings things back. But when she does this, Marinette learns an important lesson: Sometimes dead is better. Is it too late to fix her mistake?





	1. Chapter 1

Chat Noir was fighting Weredad alone, since Marinette, also knows as the secret-superheroine Ladybug, was locked in the prison of brambles. He didn't fight, and let Marinette's father pound on him. He didn't want to hurt Tom, and any damage would be fixed when Ladybug arrived. Besides, this was his fault, he broke Marinette's heart. He didn't mean to, but he did, and he really felt bad about it.

He was in constant pain right now, but it wasn't too bad, nothing he couldn't handle.

That is until Weredad threw him to the ground and busted his head open, blood spilling as a sickening 'crack' was heard.

Lucky for him, he was dead before he felt anything but a short, sharp, shock.

OoOoO

Ladybug finally burst free of the bramble prison and saw her father and her partner falling. She felt guilt wrack her as she realized her partner was probably unconscious with how unresponsive he was.

"Lucky Charm!" She called and was given a parachute. She gave it to her Dad, and swept Chat into her arms, expertly landing on her feet no matter the height.

It was then that she saw what had become of her partner, how his head was split open in the back, and the brain leaking out like strawberry jam, and the blood, gods it was everywhere.

"CHAT!" Ladybug fell to her knees and felt her world crash down around her.

And then his transformation dropped, and Ladybug saw the bones out of place, internal bleeding, and the destroyed body of Adrien Agreste.

"Adrien...." she exhaled, slipping the Cat Miraculous into her pocket. She could tell just by looking that he was dead. She threw her Lucky Charm into the air, "Miraculous Ladybug!" Everything returned to normal, except for Adrien, who remained just as broken as he had been a moment ago. She tried again, "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG! MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!" She held him close to her chest, "Chaton...please...I'm sorry, about treating you like dirt, being condescending. I'll do anything. Kiss me if you want, just come back." Adrien stared back at her through eyes devoid of all life, life one of those hyper-realistic dolls.

Tom gasped at what he had done to Adrien, and went to take him from Ladybug, who shoved him away,

"Stay away from him!" She continued to shriek and beg for Adrien to still be alive. But that golden heart of his would never beat again. She knew that.

Because of her own choices, he was dead, probably thinking she hated him.

OoOoO

Gabriel was excited. Chat Noir was dead! Superhero or not, there was no way anyone would survive a head injury that gruesome, so there was going to be a reveal of the cat hero's identity.

After that, he could just go steal the Miraculous from Chat's belongings.

But what he saw next to Nadja Chamack made him freeze.

It was a picture of Ladybug sobbing over Adrien. His son. His baby boy.

Nadja Chamack stood next to a picture of Chat Noir, "Chat Noir, also known as Adrien Agreste, is dead. We will be going to see what Gabriel thinks about the loss of our hero, his son."

Gabriel turned off the computer. No. There was no way. Adrien was upstairs practicing his piano.

He ran upstairs, barging into Adrien's room. Only his son wasn't there.

Then it really sunk in. Adrien was Chat Noir. He had just murdered his own son. Bringing Emilie back wasn't worth it anymore if their family was never going to be complete.

He fell to his knees and wept.

OoOoO

The funeral itself was a quiet service with Gabriel, Nathalie, and Adrien's very close friend: Nino, Chloe, and Marinette. Nino did the eulogy but broke down in tears halfway through. Nobody thought they would lose Adrien so soon, so young.

When the coffin was buried underground, that was when things became more public. Jagged Stone threw a concert in Adrien's honor, charities and support groups were formed.

Hawk Moth and Mayura both surrendered, their Miraculouses found at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. And because of that, Ladybug wasn't seen either.

Gabriel had shut himself in the mansion, and rumors said the loss of his son had turned him into a mad hermit. Marinette didn't know, nor did she care. She too had locked herself in her room, unable to sleep as Chat's deathday replayed in her mind, of his ruined body in her arms.

She kept playing that day in her mind, thinking of all the ways she could have changed things, kept him alive. But all that left her with was regret. She had renounced Tikki and never left her bedroom. Lila was spreading rumors about her involvement in Adrien's death, and since they were close to the truth, Marinette didn't bother to try stopping them. She stopped talking to her father too, unable to look at him without thinking about the last day she had seen Adrien alive.

Adrien and Chat were the same person. How could she not have seen it? How could Ladybug mistreat him the way she did? She never got to confess her feelings, or apologize, because he was dead, and it was her fault.

Marinette had stopped eating in the last three weeks, unable to keep anything down. She wanted just to die, either join him or go to hell where she belonged.

"Marinette, don't give in to this despair." Master Fu said, and Marinette yelped that he was there. She froze,

"Master Fu?" He nodded.

"I think it's time we talk. You cannot go on like this. I know you feel guilty, but still."

"Why shouldn't I?" She asked, turning back over in bed, "I might as well have killed him with my own hands."

"That may be." He said, "But there is a place. That brings things back. It's on the far side of Paris, Tikki will know where to go. But Marinette, there is a price for this."

Marinette brightened, "I don't care the price if Adrien is by my side."

"Marinette, the cemetery is cursed by the Wendigo. If Adrien finds out he died, his soul will leave, and his body will belong to the Wendigo. And believe me when I say you don't want that to happen." He left, and Marinette immediately transformed, flying to the graveyard where Adrien was buried. She grabbed a shovel, and got digging, letting the transformation drop and Tikki emerged,

"Marinette, you can't do this!" Tikki begged, but Marinette forcefully silenced her with a gesture as she ripped open Adrien's coffin, trying not to look at what had become of her chaton.

"But Tikki, I need to." She said quietly, cradling Adrien's stiff corpse in her arms, "Spots on!" She transformed again and traveled the miles to the edge of the city, to the Pet Semetery. Well, Chat was her kitty, so this worked.

She dug into the ground and placed him in the dirt gently, leaving the ring next to where she buried him here. She placed a hand on the earth,

"I'll see you soon, Chaton." She left.

Not ten minutes later, Adrien rose from the grave.


	2. Chapter 2

Ladybug was going around Paris nervously. Hopefully today she would see Adrien again. The people were very confused by her sudden reappearance, and she told them part of the truth. She told them how she found a way to save Chat Noir, but he could never under any circumstances learn he had been dead.

So here she was, people were very excited to see their fallen hero. 

"Ladybug!" 

That voice... Ladybug fought back the tears as she turned and saw Chat Noir running towards her. He ran into her arms, and she didn't hesitate to grab his waist and spin him.

"Oh, Chat!" She went to breathe in his scent, hoping for the strawberry and light cheese scent, only to find he still smelled like a graveyard. Well, she could fix that.

"M'Lady, what happened?" He looked around, "It's spring. Not in winter." She shushed him.

"Chat, it's okay. Let's get back to my place, and I will explain." 

"Y-Your place...? D-Does that mean?"

"I am Marinette." She whispered, and his eyes widened as his blush intensified. Blushing, that was good. It meant he had blood flowing.

They went back to the bakery and he detransformed, and Marinette was sad to notice how dirty he was, and how he still looked pretty dead. He clearly hadn't gotten any healing in the Pet Semetery. At least he had stitches.

Maybe it wasn't appropriate, but she stripped him down and put him in her bathtub as she started washing him, noticing he had no pulse. This was going to be harder than she thought. 

"I remember...the breakfast..." Adrien said quietly as Marinette scrubbed the dirt off and washed his hair, careful not to remove the staples in his head, keeping it together, "And your Dad getting akumatized and...everything went black."

Marinette sighed, helping him out of the bath and giving him some clean clothes, and got him tucked into her bed gently, since he was yawning as though he was tired.

"It doesn't matter what you remember of that day," she said, "You're back now, that's all that matters."

"Back from where?"

Marinette froze at Adrien's question. She'd slipped up, and if she didn't say something fast, he could figure it out and who knows what would happen then!

"Weredad bashed your head, nasty stuff." She got out after a moment, "You've been in a coma between life-and-death. I found a place that would wake you, but I had to leave you in the ground overnight. Sorry about that. It's been about a month." Adrien smiled,

"It's okay. I'm glad to be back. Though I am currently coming to a conclusion, Luka has been my competition the entire time." Marinette smiled a little, shaking her head.

"Adrien, you were your own competition." She kissed his forehead, "Get some sleep, you look like you need it." She left her room, leaving Adrien alone with Plagg.

Marinette cheered, "Tikki! It worked! Tomorrow we'll go to school, and everything will be right in the world!"

"Marinette, are you sure about that? Anybody could let slip what really happened, and if Adrien finds out, it won't be Adrien anymore."

"Don't worry, Tikki. Everything is going to work out!" Marinette skipped off, and Tikki flew off to Master Fu.

There was no way Marinette would be able to keep a secret from Adrien that literally, everybody in Paris knew. There had been coroners, there had been police, there was literally no way Adrien could have simply been comatose. She'd seen this before with her former Ladybug in Maine, a young girl named Ellie. The second Adrien was either told or even suspected that he was dead, the Wendigo would take control and go on a rampage. 

And God help them all if that happened.

OoOoO

The next day at school, Marinette was very excited to bring Adrien. The class had been called in advance just to act like Adrien came out of a coma and not like he was undead, which he technically was.

She looked around and noticed that Nino still hadn't come back from Morocco. Ever since Adrien died, Nino had been so distant that he went to visit his relatives to clear his head. Hopefully, he would be back soon, because Adrien was clearly bummed out.

She shot a glare at her classmates, who were staring at Adrien with wide-eyed expressions. Juleka was the only one keeping her chill. Rose looked ready to scream in terror. Adrien, fortunately, was completely oblivious.

Lila went to sit in the front with him, "Adrien, I'm so happy you're back!" Adrien turned,

"Yeah, me too, Lila. But...that's Nino's seat and...I kind of miss him. It's been a while." Lila shrugged,

"Nino's been in Morroco since you d—went into a coma." Marinette shoved Lila away, enjoying it more than she should, but also needed to distract Adrien from that slip-up and almost reveal of his actual situation.

"Yeah, Nino's been gone for a bit. I'll call him during lunch, okay? Time change might make it hard, though. Here! I'll sit next to you so you can catch up on the schoolwork you missed." Adrien grinned,

"Thanks, I'm really far behind."

Miss Bustier came in, "Good morning, class—AH!" She jumped at the sight of Adrien. Shit. Another person who didn't know about Adrien being back. Marinette was starting to realize this was going to be harder than she thought.

Adrien waved, "I'm back!" Miss Bustier still had a horrified expression, but Adrien didn't stop smiling, "Yeah, I know it's probably a shock that father let me come back. But he doesn't know I'm awake yet. At least I don't think he knows yet."

Miss Bustier managed to get herself together, "Uh...I'm just gonna...call your father, Adrien."

"NO! Not yet." Adrien rubbed the back of his head, frowning when he felt the staples holding him together, but then shrugged it off, "I want to surprise him after school. He won't let me out of the house for a while if he finds out on his own."

"Okay. Class dismissed." Miss Bustier clenched her fists, as though she was trying not to scream, "Class, how about you take today to welcome Adrien back. Marinette, please stay a moment." Everyone left, Adrien was more confused than anything and a little hurt.

Miss Bustier slowly turned to Marinette, "How the hell is he alive?!"

"Ladybug brought him back using the Pet Semetery on the edge of town. I'm _ really _ trying never to let him find out he's dead. Apparently, bad things will happen."

"Yeah. We're going to have the apocalypse on our hands if he finds out." She sighed, "I'm sorry Marinette, I know you care about Adrien, but I give it until the bell rings until he finds out the truth and turns on us. He needs to be put down while he's docile. He would understand."

"NO!" Marinette backed up, "He is still Adrien, and I will make sure he stays like that!" She ran out of the class to find him.

...

Adrien put his things in his locker, first using his phone to take a picture of the back of his head, where he saw the stitches and the staples. He sighed.

Plagg emerged, "Kitten, are you okay?" 

"Why is everyone afraid of me, Plagg?" Adrien asked quietly, "Is it because I'm Chat Noir? Is Nino really in Morocco, or is he hiding from me? It's not like I'm a zombie or anything. Sure, my chances of waking up were slim to none, but Ladybug saved the day like she always does."

Plagg sat in Adrien's hand, "Kid, please stop asking questions. It's been a month, and they all managed to move on and accept you weren't going to wake up, so seeing you after that is really shocking. Nino couldn't bear to see you like that and really did go to Morroco until you woke up."

"Yeah, but why do I still have these staples in my head, and..." he looked down at himself, lifting up his shirt. His injuries had healed a little, but not like they would in a month, "I just feel like something isn't right."

"Adrien, _ please _ stop." Plagg pleaded, knowing that if Adrien thought about it any longer, he would be gone. 

Then Plagg's worst fear became a reality at what Adrien said next.

"Plagg... am I dead?" 

Plagg screamed as he watched the light leave Adrien's eyes as his soul moved on, leaving just his kitten's body; now soulless, creepy, and fundamentally wrong.

Kagami was the unfortunate soul to walk in at that moment, with the zombie in Adrien's place. She smiled at him. Of course, the only chill person arrived too late to save his boy.

"Hey Adrien, I was a little worried I wouldn't ever see you again." She gasped as Adrien wrapped his hands around her throat, picking her up until he crushed her windpipe. 

Kagami fell to the ground, dead. A warrior had fallen in a matter of seconds.

Adrien smirked, throwing her corpse over his shoulder.

"Come along, Kagami," he said with an icy tone, "It's time to have fun. I'm going to take you to my favorite place, where you can return just like me. Claws out!" Chat transformed and ran to the Pet Semetery, burying her in it. That night, there would be another zombie at his side. But while he was under the Wendigo's control, he still had a little of his own memory, or rather the hateful emotions.

His next target: his dear father.

He'd let Marinette think for a while that it was still her precious partner, but he did wonder how long it would be before she realized that in the end, it was inevitable it ended this way. 


	3. Chapter 3

Gabriel had locked himself in the mansion since Adrien's death. He had been sick for weeks, unable to get the image of his son's ruined body out of his head, or the delighted feeling he had felt at hearing Chat Noir was dead, back when he thought the hero was another man's son.

Nobody could reach him in the depression slump he was in, as he barely ate or slept. Nathalie had to force-feed him practically, and he still couldn't keep anything down. His son, head busted open, blood and brain-matter everywhere, ribs poking out, breaking the skin...

He vomited again. He dully noted that he was so thin he could barely stand. Maybe he should go to the hospital. Wasn't like he would ever see Adrien again anyway since Gabriel knew for sure he was going to hell. Whether he lived or died, he didn't care anymore. Emilie wouldn't want to come back to a world like this.

He frowned a little from where he was trying to work but finding himself dragged into self-loathing. Usually, this was around the time Nathalie came to annoy him about actually taking care of himself.

For about an hour, he let himself think that maybe she had finally realized he wasn't worth it and allowing him to waste away would be easier.  
But then he noticed it was quiet. Too quiet. 

Opening the door to his office, Gabriel went to walk up the stairs, maybe she was trying to clean Adrien's room even though he had ordered it be left untouched. He still had a tiny fraction of hope that Adrien wasn't really dead, and emptying out his son's room was an acceptance that just wasn't there.

But he froze at what he saw when he actually started walking up the stairs.

There, nailed high on the wall straight through the painting of himself and Adrien, was the mangled corpse of Nathalie. Her skin was burned in places, her fingers were bent at odd angles, and garish red lines crisscrossed her naked body.

Gabriel screamed as he felt a sharp pain through the tibial artery in his ankle. He stumbled as he fell down the stairs, disappointed the fall didn't snap his neck.

But what he then saw made him unsure if maybe he had died.

Chat Noir swung out from under the stairs, holding a bloody knife that looked like a dirk. He grinned maliciously,

"Hello, father." He landed gracefully on the ground, feet not making any sound as he walked. But then his son's smile softened, "I'm back."

"A...Adrien?" He tried to get up but found himself unable since he was bleeding out, "H-How are you here? You're dead. What did you do to Nathalie?!"

"Nothing that can't be fixed." Chat said, detransforming, revealing he had changed back into the clothes he had died in, which was his usual attire. "I found the greatest place, father. It can fix our family. I just decided to use Nathalie as a test subject. She agreed to it, just maybe not expecting me to have a little fun first." 

Gabriel brightened, completely disregarding the psychotic words coming out of his zombie child's mouth. In his eyes, his world was finally coming back together. Adrien was siding with him! Maybe they could get past the whole "you killed me" thing.

"I would love that, Adrien." Adrien turned slowly, his grin becoming evil as he raised the dirk, but not before getting it to heat up by the fireplace.

"Good." He plunged the knife into Gabriel's stomach at just the right place to not be lethal, but be extremely painful. Then he started carving, and Gabriel felt his soul be crushed as he was slowly killed by his own son. All that hope he had was gone.

And then he passed out, accepting his fate.

...

Adrien was bitterly disappointed that his father would go and die on him so quickly. At least Nathalie had screamed and fought back. This was no fun at all.

He noticed Plagg bawling on the railing, looking at what his chosen had become with bloodshot eyes. Adrien narrowed his eyes, looking at the carnage he had caused. Still, his father was slightly alive, and that worked for now.

He bent down and ripped out his father's throat with his teeth, spatting it out and musing that the iron taste wasn't all that pleasant.

"What are you looking at?" He asked his kwami darkly, "Go get some cheese while I clean up. I just got a text from my lady that Nino's flight just landed. I should be at the bakery to greet my bro when they arrive. But first I need to bring Nathalie and Dad to the burial ground." Those words he used to say with affection such as "Dad, my lady, or bro" were now stated menacingly since he saw his former loved ones as nothing more than pawns in a bigger game for his master.

Plagg was shouting through his despair, "Kid! Please! It's not too late, Ladybug might be able to save you still!" Adrien just growled, making his orders clear. Plagg had no choice but to obey and go grab the cheese.

For once, Plagg wasn't hungry.

OoOoO

Marinette was there to pick Nino up from the airport, wondering where Adrien was. He said he had gone on a walk to clear his head since he was upset about how people didn't seem happy to see him. It really did anger her how freaked out they were. It was still Adrien. And if anyone could see that, Nino would be able to. 

Nino got off the plane and saw Marinette. He gave her a wan smile. She noted he did not look great, with dark bags under his eyes. She knew the topic of death was a very light one with Nino, so having lost his best friend so soon and in such a horrific way must have crushed him.

"Hey Marinette," Nino said quietly, "What's the surprise you wanted to show me?" She grinned,

"Come on, Nino. It's at the bakery."

"T...The bakery...?" 

Right, Nino had actually been the first person to the scene of Adrien's death since he had been on a walk in the area. He had seen the bakery, and more importantly, Adrien's mangled corpse in front of it. He'd seen everything and wasn't able to go near the bakery without breaking down.

"Yes, Nino, but I promise you will like this surprise."

The car ride was awkwardly silent. Nino was fidgeting and very uncomfortable. Marinette wanted to tell him Adrien was alive, so there was no reason to be sad anymore.

They went to the bakery, and Marinette wondered where Adrien was since he wasn't here. Maybe he lost track of time on his walk.

Nino looked on the brink of crying, "Marinette, I'm sorry. But I am really uncomfortable here." This wasn't wholly personal, the bakery almost had to shut down since people associated it with the Death of Adrien Agreste. Sure, Marinette and her father were the most direct cause, and it was only because the mayor had been akumatized before and remembered the feeling that Tom wasn't accused of murder, and was thankfully only given a small fine for involuntary manslaughter.

Still, she understood why Nino wasn't comfortable.

She then smiled, "Nino, since the surprise doesn't seem to have arrived yet, I'm just going to tell you. There's a place that brings things back."

"Mari..." Nino exhaled, "What did you do?"

It was then that they heard the floorboards creaking and Marinette saw Adrien walk in wearing his usual attire, looking at his best friend, an utterly stoic expression on his face, 

"Are you happy...bro?" Nino was shaking his head a little, trying not to sob in terror. Marinette narrowed her eyes at him,

"Hug your best friend." Adrien slowly wrapped his arms around Nino, but his friend didn't return the hug, his eyes wide at Marinette as he realized immediately that this wasn't really Adrien, even if Marinette thought it was.

"I..." Nino broke the hug and rushed to the door, "Sorry, I promised Mom I'd look after Chris. Good to see you, Adrien, bye!" He bolted out.

"He doesn't want me here," Adrien told Marinette calmly. She turned, putting her hands on his shoulders,

"Nino's just surprised. That's all."

"It's okay. I don't want him here either."

Marinette paused.

OoOoO

"Marinette, you have to reverse this!" Tikki pleaded, "That's not Adrien!"

"Of course, it is!" Marinette snapped, "He might be a little colder, but he's still my other half!" Tikki sat on her shoulder,

"You and I both know Adrien is smart, and he would never brush off Nino like that. I could see in his eyes that he knows the truth."

"Why would you know!?" Marinette snapped. Tikki sighed,

"Because my last Ladybug had the same fate as Adrien. Plagg and I both have seen this happen firsthand. And where is Adrien now?"

"Out on a walk."

"Hopefully it won't be too late." Tikki muttered, "I told Master Fu that Adrien knows, and he's going to handle it."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Marinette roared, "That's still Adrien! I won't let him be killed because of your theory."

"Marinette..." Tikki sighed as she was sucked into the ring as Marinette went to try saving her undead beloved.

OoOoO

Nino was laying in bed, practically catatonic. Adrien's death had been callous, so seeing that thing he just knew would tarnish Adrien's memory hurt like a million knives.

He didn't know how long he just stared at the ceiling. It was a long time, he supposed since the sun was setting when he finally came back to reality, and it had been noon when he started thinking.

A small part of him hoped it really was Adrien, and he was just adjusting. But the rest of his brain, the rational half, told him that Adrien being alive without a price was too good to be true.

And maybe having Adrien leap at him from under the bed and try stabbing him with a knife helped with that realization.

Nino rolled away from the knife, wondering how the hell Adrien had gotten in here without anyone noticing. 

Adrien grinned at him like a maniac, and Nino came to the horrible realization that there was blood staining his undead friend's clothes, and it hadn't been there before.

Without hesitation, Nino dove out his window, using the power of his parkour training with Alya to land safely, only for Adrien to jump down after him, and the sound of broken bone rang in

Nino's ears even though it wasn't his own bones being broken.

Adrien had snapped his ankle, only to continue walking, this time more like a movie zombie, but still alarmingly fast.

"Adrien!" Nino managed to whirl past Adrien and dodge another knife attack, "It's me! It's Nino!"

"I know who you are!" Adrien said with a crazed tone, lunging again, and blood spilled from Nino's arm. His arm hung loosely since Adrien had cut straight through bone and only a tiny amount of flesh was keeping the limb attached. He bit back a scream in pain as he fell over, expecting to be killed.

He was shocked to see the shield of the turtle block the knife blow.

Master Fu, or Jade Turtle, appeared, wielding a sword as well. He ran at Adrien, who then transformed and flipped over the guardian, pinning him within seconds. Nino knew Adrien was a good fighter, but without his Ladybug crush distracting him, he was phenomenal. And that was a terrible thing since Adrien was currently the bad guy.

Chat Noir detransfromed and took Master Fu's sword in place of his broken knife. Nino noticed the guardian throw him the turtle Miraculous.

"Run!" Nino obeyed, scrambling away, knowing his family was dead and he just had to keep Alya safe from Adrien, warn her.

...

Adrien grinned at the guardian, "I don't think I want to use the sword for what I'm going to do to you." He plunged his hands into the guardian's stomach, using his nails to dig in and disembowel him. But right before Fu died, staring at his own organs, he whispered,

"Maybe if Ladybug and I had actually been equals, this wouldn't be happening." Mercilessly, he ripped Fu open, leaving the discarded, shattered knife inside. He took the sword, "Oh, Plagg! It's time to go find Nino because we can't have him telling my precious lady." He saw the blood trail Nino had left, and followed it.

But Ladybug had seen everything from her perch on a building. She couldn't believe it. Adrien...

She hadn't listened to the warnings, and now that thing was going on a rampage in Adrien's body.

How many had he already killed? How many deaths did she ignore, thinking it was still Adrien? She was the hero of Paris, but now she had unleashed a monster: an armed, skilled, magical monster.

Ladybug wept, knowing she had to fix this.

But could she bring herself to kill Adrien again?


	4. Chapter 4

Ladybug, tears in her eyes, chased after Chat Noir as he went in search of Nino. This could not be happening. This had to be a nightmare because Adrien wouldn't do this.

It's not Adrien. Tikki had told her, and she didn't listen. She didn't listen to Tikki at all. In hindsight, Adrien was going to find out sooner or later, this would have happened eventually. She just wished she had had more time with him and had realized the moment he was no longer himself.

But the question remained: how do you kill something already dead?

She quickly noticed Nino had started a false trail, and Chat took the bait by the fallen arm. She had to hold back vomit since she had seen the state of Nino's arm and he probably ripped the small part of it still attached so he could keep running. 

Sure enough, she found him in Alya's house, bleeding out and barely conscious. Alya looked up,

"Ladybug! What happened?! He knocked at my door and collapsed." Ladybug forcefully grabbed them both and brought them to the very top of the Eiffel tower, where it would be easier to spot Chat if he came for them.

She explained everything, about wanting her partner back and accidentally creating a monster, and how Nino was the current target. But looking at him, he was so pale, and they could tell he had gone into irreversible shock. He wasn't dead yet, but he also wasn't going to recover. Ever.

Alya wept as they sat in silence, waiting for Nino's chest to stop rising and falling. Ladybug made sure to burn the body once they were sure he was dead, that way Nino wouldn't be thrown into the Pet Semetery.

"I should never have told him to come back from Morroco." Ladybug said, weeping quietly. Alya put a hand on her shoulder,

"Y-You were trying to make things better, girl. I don't blame you. I blame the damn Wendigo that's controlling Adrien."

"Wendi...that's it!" Ladybug whirled around, "What if we kill the Wendigo? We can't kill something already dead, but what if we kill the puppetmaster?"

"Go to the thing that's causing the things?"

"Yes!" Marinette detransformed, "Tikki, would that work?" Tikki nodded,

"You need to take out Adrien or remove the Wendigo's influence. Take out the original zombie and its master, and you can use Miraculous Ladybug to fix everything." Alya frowned,

"But Adrien's death proved that Miraculous Ladybug doesn't reverse death."

"It only reverses the villain's power. Since Adrien is the villain here and his power is death, it will reverse things. Better yet, if we can get the Wendigo's influence out of him, we can get the real Adrien back too."

"Wait, really?" Marinette brightened, "Of course! You're the kwami of creation and life!" Tikki nodded,

"Marinette, our main goal is to kill the Wendigo. If we get a chance to try saving Adrien, go ahead, but do not go near him without reason."

"Alright," Alya cracked her knuckles, "If killing this thing will bring Nino and everyone else back, we have to do it. Paris is already in chaos." They saw a Nadja Chamack news report.

"Chat Noir has turned on Paris! Some say this is proof that the dead should stay dead, others claim this was never our returned hero, to begin with, and some believe he is under a spell just after resurrection. What we know for certain is Gabriel Agreste has been confirmed dead, along with the majority of students at our local high school."

"Adrien's going on a rampage..." Alya breathed, and Marinette ran to Master Fu's place to grab the Miracle Box and pull out the Fox Miraculous,

"Alya, we need your help."

"Obviously. Trixx, let's pounce!" Rena Rouge was there, with Chat Noir behind her.

"Well then, Bugaboo. So this is where the guardian hides." He looked around, and Marinette transformed, standing her ground,

"Adrien, snap out of it! The Wendigo is controlling you, like Hawk Moth controlling his victims. You've basically been akumatized! So tell me where your master is, and I can save you." Chat Noir cackled, forcing himself past her with abnormal speed, grabbing the Miracle box.

"But why would I betray my master? I'm just here to grant my army ultimate power!" He ran out, "So thanks for the help!"

"NO!" Ladybug immediately ran after him as she realized what he was doing. He wasn't mindlessly killing, he was building an army. And when midnight struck, all those he had buried would come to life, under the control of the Wendigo.

Ladybug chased after Adrien as he started burying tons of bodies in the cemetery, Plagg sitting on his shoulder, being forced to eat cheese, "Adrien, stop!" He turned to her, slowly, once again wearing a stoic expression on his face.

"Have you come to kill me, Bugaboo?"

A single tear fell from Ladybug's cheek before she ran at him, yo-yo in hand. He wouldn't be able to win without his transformation.

He then pulled out some sort of enchanted sword, slicing her yo-yo clean in half.

Rena joined her, throwing her flute to distract Adrien while Ladybug rushed at him to tie him up and get the location of the—

She screamed as Kagami rose from the grave, stabbing her straight through the hip. Rena shrieked as she was distracted by her best friend's situation and got a sword right through the throat, blood spraying everywhere. 

Ladybug fell to her knees, seeing the crimson liquid spilling from her. Adrien looked down upon her with a smirk on his face as the dead started to rise around him.

Then, from the deep woods behind the deadfall, woods so deep that the light looked green and tarnished even on the brightest days, a shrill, maniacal laugh came out of the darkness, rising and falling in hysterical cycles, loud, piercing, chilling. The sound was huge. Ladybug could not even begin to imagine what sort of creature could have made such a sound.

Adrien looked down at her, bending down and watching the blood spill. He gazed at his undead army, and then to Alya's corpse, "Go kill more, my army. Don't we want to show more this wonderful place?" The undead walked off, and Adrien glared in Ladybug's direction, "Not so powerful now, are you, M'Lady. Have you learned your lesson yet? Sometimes dead is better."

Ladybug then got an idea. She knew she was in no state to fight the Wendigo and win, but maybe Tikki's power could give Adrien his free will back so he could? Without hesitation, she grabbed his face and kissed him passionately, pushing Tikki's life powers and the magic of true love into him. And once he glowed a little bit, she slipped her earrings off and put them on him.

The real Adrien blinked a couples times, staggering backward, "H-Huh? What..." he saw Alya's corpse and the dozens of fresh graves around him as his memory returned. "Oh my god, Marinette!" He fell to his knees before her, and Marinette wept with joy knowing it had worked and it was really him.

"S...Save us all...chaton..." she cupped his cheek, "Miraculous Ladybug will fix everything...just defeat the Wendigo...I love you." Then she passed out.

...

Adrien froze as the love of his life, lost consciousness in his arms. He remembered what he had done under the Wendigo's control and felt sick with himself. How had he not fought that?!  
Plagg flew next to him, "Adrien! You don't have much time, you have to transform with Tikki if you want to keep your free will." Adrien nodded, transforming into Mister Bug, 

"Plagg...I'm so sorry for how I treated you." Plagg shrugged,

"It wasn't you."

Mister Bug looked down at himself, "When I defeat the Wendigo, I'll go back to being dead, right?"

"Unless you want to wear the Ladybug Miraculous for the rest of your existence, then that is what would happen. And there's no true guarantee that everyone will no longer be dead, just that they won't be under the Wendigo's control anymore." Mister Bug nodded,

"Good that I'll go back to dead. I don't think I'll be able to live with myself anyways." He pulled out the yo-yo, looking down at Marinette. He quickly took off her jacket to bind the injury. He wept,

"I'm sorry, M'Lady. This is all my fault. But I swear right now, that no matter what comes of me, I will make this right. I promise."

Then, Plagg by his side and yo-yo in hand, he went to confront the Wendigo.


	5. Chapter 5

Mister Bug ran through the woods, following the sound of his former master's laughter. Self-loathing was the main thing on his mind, for not being strong enough to prevent his own death that started this mess. Would he even be able to stop the Wendigo?

He ran until he found himself in a clearing. Now the thing out there seemed so close that he expected to see its shape at any moment, rising up on two legs, perhaps, blotting out the stars with some unthought-of immense and shaggy body.

"I know you're here!" He called, "Come out and fight!" He heard the laughter again, and he clenched his fists, "You've used me to harm the people I love most, well no more! It's Adrien Agreste talking, not your puppet. So I demand a battle. If you win, I belong to you and the world is yours. If I win, everything goes back as though I was never resurrected. You bring everybody back, _ right _!"

The bushes rustled, and Mister Bug was shaking a little as he saw the Wendigo appear, its eyes tilted up like the eyes in a classical Chinese painting, a rich yellowish-gray, sunken, gleaming. Its mouth was drawn out in a rictus, the lower lip turned inside out, revealing teeth stained blackish-brown and worn almost to nubs. But what struck him were the ears, which were not ears at all, but curving horns...they were not like devil's horns; they were ram's horns. The body itself was like a mix between a man and a deer, with the torso rotted away, so bones were shown.

It laughed at him, but he had been its pawn long enough to know it was agreeing to his terms.

Mister Bug jumped into a tree, letting the creature's relentless laughing be a sense of where it was. He wasn't great with these powers, but the fact the lives of dozens were on the line had him genuinely motivated. He still wished his lady was here to help. Plagg came up from behind and used cataclysm on the Wendigo, who screeched, and Mister Bug smirked,

"I never said one-on-one." The look it gave him said it also didn't plan on single combat, as at least half the zombies appeared. And he knew it he destroyed them like this, there would be no bringing them back.

Mister Big growled, swinging out of the tree and landing on the Wendigo's shoulders.

The only way to kill a Wendigo is fire. How could he get light? And he knew that if he killed the monster with fire, he too would likely be consumed by the flames.

The creature bucked and screeched, but Mister Bug didn't let go, "Lucky Charm!" It was a risky move, he knew this, but if Ladybug could do it, he could too. 

_ Five minutes. _

A flamethrower was his lucky charm. Well, it looks like it gave him what he wanted two times in a row. Sweet!

Activating the flamethrower after his lucky vision told him where to aim, he shot it at the tree and grabbed the Wendigo's horns to steer it in the direction of the fire. 

_ Four minutes. _

The Wendigo laughed, going in the opposite direction of the fire, only for Mister Bug to grab a burning tree with his yo-yo and send it flying at his opponent, who was hit and caught fire quickly, seeing as it was made of mostly rotting flesh.

He hopped down from it, kicking zombie-Ivan back. He was telling himself this was just Zombizou all over again, and he hadn't killed all his friends. The idea of a knife in his hands, carving into Nathalie and his own father. He had to force back the bile as he saw those very people try to attack him. When this would over, he would let them have their way with him, but right now was not the time.

_ Three minutes. _

The Wendigo was flaming, and he ran at him, only for Mister Bug to jump into a tree, flamethrower at the ready.

"I win." He said, "You're flaming and bound to be destroyed very soon. So uphold your end."

Silence.

_ Two minutes. _

The creature looked up him, nearly burned away, and he saw the people he had killed ultimately return to normal, and he saw Nino appear out of nowhere, missing an arm, but it was already healed over.

He also felt the exact moment Tikki's power was the only thing keeping him alive.

"Adrien?!" Gabriel looked up at the tree in horror, "Adrien!" Everyone else was scrambling away from the flaming monster, and Nathalie was feeling mortified to be completely naked.

_ One minute. _

One minute left to live. The Wendigo then, in its final moments, grabbed him, and Mister Bug screamed as he felt the flames against his skin, cooking his flesh.

If this thing was going down, losing the fight, it was taking Adrien with it, making sure his own final moments were in agony. Though Mister Bug saw this as starting to atone for his crimes.

_ Time's up. _

Adrien died. The last thing he heard was Plagg screaming his name. 

OoOoO

Marinette woke up, startled to find her injury scarred over and otherwise gone completely. Alya was also getting up, with the help of Nino, who Marinette distinctly remembered burning away into nothing. Was the Wendigo really that powerful?

"What happened?" She asked, and Nino sighed.

"Adrien saved us. He made a deal with the Wendigo, fighting to determine the fate of Paris. Adrien won, but..."

It was then that Marinette heard Chloe's sobs. She got up and there, in a circle, were the formerly fallen citizens of Paris, gathered around Adrien's dead body, with the left side of his face burned horribly. The sun was rising in the distance. 

Gabriel was on his knees, pleading for Adrien to come back. If they all had, why couldn't he?

Marinette knew why. Adrien hadn't asked the Wendigo to bring everybody buried the in Semetery back right. He had wanted to die, thinking he deserved to die for something he didn't even do. 

She saw Master Fu grabbing the discarded Miracle Box and, with a smile on his face, released all of the kwamis, who flew out of the box eagerly, surrounding Adrien as nineteen balls of light.

"He defeated the Wendigo." Tikki announced, "This is something we have been trying to do for years, find someone who could start and win a fight with this monster cursing our world. In return..." all the kwamis started to glow, chanting loudly, as Adrien began to glow. Everyone gasped as all of Adrien's injuries healed completely, and the staples fell out of his head. All the kwamis except for Tikki and Plagg returned to the Miracle Box. 

Marinette ran to his side, "Adrien?!" The glow subsided, and Adrien took a sharp intake of air, opening his eyes slowly.

"M-M'Lady? Did I win?" Marinette wept, brushing back a strand of his hair,

"Yeah. You saved us." Adrien then blinked a couple times, looking around.

"I don't understand. How am I alive?" He checked his pulse, finding he really did have one. And he was warm. Truly, honest to god alive.

"Those little toy things brought you back!" Kim explained, "Said that you defeating the Wendigo was a public service, so they decided you deserved another shot at life."

"I don't, though..." Adrien leaned on Marinette since he was too weak to support himself, "I killed you all, brutally. My father and Nathalie especially."

"It wasn't you, bro." Nino was in tears as well, "It was basically Copycat all over again. Let's just call this whole incident 'Chat Blanc' and get on with our lives." Tikki emerged, whispering in Adrien's ear,

"I may have also erased the memory of your identity from the media, just those you trust most remember."

"Thanks, Tikki." Adrien leaned into Marinette, "I don't think I'll be able to forgive myself."

"I'll help you then." She hesitated, "I mean...if you want it."

"Maybe. But maybe the greatest punishment is living with everyone remembering what I have done. Don't change that, Tikki, I want everyone to remember. That way there will be at least someone who remembers Adrien Agreste slaughtered a good hundred people, and I know it doesn't endanger my identity since I killed most in my civilian form, and only those I trusted were killed by Chat."

Marinette didn't like that, not at all, but if that was what Adrien wanted, it was tolerable.

She still picked him up bridal-style, since he was clearly too weak to walk.

"Come on, chaton. Let's go home."

OoOoO

Over the next two weeks, Adrien hated how many people were understanding of what had happened. Where were the fire and pitchforks? Where were the people screaming he should still be dead? Where were the people who got PTSD just by looking at him?! He wanted to be feared, wanted people to hate him. He only got it from Rollan Dupain, who said resurrection was not how it was done, but even he didn't hate Adrien for slaughtering over a hundred people.

He shut himself in an abandoned warehouse after that, rocking back and forth, weeping. He wanted people to hate him as much as he hated himself. Why didn't they understand what he had done?!

It didn't help that his mother's dead body had been found, and it showed her time of death was around the same time as when he was resurrected, meaning his revival likely killed her. That guilt overwhelmed him.

"It's not your fault, Adrien," Plagg said, licking away Adrien's tears. Adrien turned away,

"I want you to hurt me, Plagg. I want to feel the pain I inflicted on others if they won't give it to me." Plagg froze, shaking his head, taking full advantage of the fact Adrien didn't know about the orders.

"No. I refuse, Adrien. I know you hate yourself, I have hated myself for countless millennia for the death I caused and nobody hating me for it. If anyone feels your pain, I do. But there you really aren't responsible. You died, it happens to everyone, and it was the actions of others that led to the Wendigo. But you saved countless people from that thing. If you hadn't been the one to die, someone else would have, and this whole mess would have ended differently. Nobody has ever broken free of the Wendigo's control before, let alone win a fight. I didn't bring you back because I missed you, but don't think I didn't. I did it because I didn't want you to have died thinking you deserve to be hated."

Adrien looked out the window, where he saw Nino, the only person who wasn't pretending nothing happened. He didn't hate Adrien, and the missing arm was proof of the fact something had happened, but he wasn't _ afraid _ of his best friend. Nino flinched from time to time but tried to hide it. Adrien had insisted he not hide it, and relished the pain of his friend's flinching.

"Talk to them, Adrien. They will never hate you, but they really want to help you." Adrien saw Marinette was down there too with food from the bakery. 

"I don't deserve such loving people as you."

"Oh, Adrien," Plagg smiled, "You deserve so much more."

Sighing, Adrien left the warehouse.


End file.
